Nehemia 9:13

9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

Ayub 33:27

33:27 That person sings ¹  to others, ²  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ³ 

Mazmur 19:8

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ⁴ 

and make one joyful. ⁵ 

The Lord’s commands ⁶  are pure ⁷ 

and give insight for life. ⁸ 

Mazmur 119:75

119:75 I know, Lord, that your regulations ⁹  are just.

You disciplined me because of your faithful devotion to me. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 119:128

119:128 For this reason I carefully follow all your precepts. ¹¹ 

I hate all deceitful actions. ¹² 

Hosea 14:9

Concluding Exhortation

14:9 Who is wise?

Let him discern ¹³  these things!

Who is discerning?

Let him understand them!

For the ways of the Lord are right;

the godly walk in them,

but in them the rebellious stumble.

Roma 7:12

7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Roma 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ¹⁴  to this present world, ¹⁵  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹⁶  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Roma 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁷  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹⁸  – which is your reasonable service.

Titus 1:4

1:4 To Titus, my genuine son in a common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior!

[33:27]  ¹ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ² tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ³ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[19:8]  ⁴ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ⁷ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ⁸ tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[119:75]  ⁹ tn In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.

[119:75]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”

[119:128]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for this reason all the precepts of everything I regard as right.” The phrase “precepts of everything” is odd. It is preferable to take the kaf (כ) on כֹּל (kol, “everything) with the preceding form as a pronominal suffix, “your precepts,” and the lamed (ל) with the following verb as an emphatic particle. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 138.

[119:128]  ¹² tn Heb “every false path.”

[14:9]  ¹³ tn The shortened form of the prefix-conjugation verb וְיָבֵן (vÿyaven) indicates that it is a jussive rather than an imperfect. When a jussive comes from a superior to an inferior, it may connote exhortation and instruction or advice and counsel. For the functions of the jussive, see IBHS 568-70 §34.3.

[12:2]  ¹⁴ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ¹⁶ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ¹⁸ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[12:1]  sn Taken as predicate adjectives, the terms alive, holy, and pleasing are showing how unusual is the sacrifice that believers can now offer, for OT sacrifices were dead. As has often been quipped about this text, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.”